The Sweet Sound of Music
by bitchinblackframedglasses
Summary: Amelia is just trying to find her stolen violin, but when she identifies her neighbor and now criminal for Danny, her neighbor swears revenge. First CSI fanfic, try to be nice...!
1. Chapter 1

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 1

DANNY POV

"We seriously can't ID this guy?" I groaned, standing at the other end of claims office. The man in question was a serious creep; a woman had called the cops on him for peeking in her windows. He was just sitting there, hands handcuffed to the arm rests, staring intently at everyone in the office.

"Nope. Not yet, that's your job." Flack smirked, flipping through the minimal file. "Nobody seems to know the guy. Good luck." He handed me the file and walked back toward the lab. Lucky shit. I had been moved to Claims by Mac, while he got to work in the lab all day…

Slowly, I walked across the room. I really didn't want to do this. As I passed a desk, a rather large woman was saying something about a Pekinese and a fire extinguisher. The next was a tall balding man, speaking hoarsely about the upstairs chain-smokers in his apartment.

One desk away from the creep was a woman with a hawk like gaze and thin long hair, who was staring at Mike, one of the claims reps I knew. Next to her was a young woman, who was describing something, some sort of case. Her hair was short and spiky, and bangs almost hid thick black framed glasses. I caught the eye of a cop, and he met me at the desk.

Swiftly, he cuffed his hands behind his back and stood him up. As we started to walk away, I heard someone gasp. Turning around, it was the girl with the spiky hair. She was half raised, staring at the creeper.

"Mr. Croup?" She half-breathed, staring at the now identified Mr. Croup. Mr. Croup froze and the heat started to rise in his face. The girls pretty face look so surprised.

"Do you know this man?" I asked her, but the woman answered.

"Of course we do, he's our neighbor." She said briskly, sweeping her long hair back with very long French manicured nails.

"Ok, give him a court date, and let him go." I told the cop, who moved Mr. Croup away. He stared back at his neighbors the whole time. "I'll take it from here, Mike." I said, and he gladly got up and almost ran away.

"Alright, call me Danny." I said grinning at the both of them. The girl grinned back, but the woman frowned.

"Melinda Brown, and my daughter, Amelia. I suppose you want to know about our claim?" Mrs. Brown said briskly.

"That would be helpful, yes ma'am." I said, cringing on the inside. She was definitely not a nice person.

"My daughter's violin has been stolen, although I have a different idea about the matter now," The mother said almost shrilly. "Mr. Croup is her violin teacher, and he owns an instrument company. I doubt it was stolen from him, but I think he stole it from her." She said this all very fast.

Amelia leaned forward, grinning, and intertwined her fingers on the table. A bracelet clinked on her wrist, with all sorts of charms, fish, shoes, and the biggest one, a violin. "Mom, don't exaggerate. I'm sure Mr. Croup wouldn't do something like that. Why was he here, anyway?" She asked me.

"I can't discuss an ongoing investigation, I'm sorry. But can you tell me more about him? Mr. Croup isn't a criminal," I assured the girl, "but he is a person of interest now." Amelia frowned as her mom butted in.

"Well, Amelia knows him best out of the two of us, she's been with him for three years, and has studied violin since she was 4. Amelia will be playing at Carnegie—"

"Mom, enough!" Amelia said quickly, flushing a surprisingly deep red. "He doesn't need a biography or anything…" She dwindled under her moms stare. "Anyway, yeah, I knew him a little. What do you want to know?" She asked, the color starting to fade from her face.

"Did you like Mr. Croup?" I asked. She frowned.

"He was kind of a creep. No, he was a major creep, like super freaky. He was kind of a mouth-breather. But he was great at teaching." She finished matter-of-factly.

"How old are you?" I asked after a minute. She made the cutest face at that one. Her nose scrunched up.

"I'm 19. Mr. Croup is like, 65. Yuck." I laughed, but her mom's glare made my chuckles die instantly.

"Did he ever act in a way that made you uncomfortable?" I asked and it was her turn to laugh.

"Danny, he was always creeping on me, his violin, my violin, himself, his half deaf cat, you name it. Of course I was uncomfortable. Even when I was playing. He was real…hands-on. Oh wait, no, that came out wrong," she said quickly, seeing her moms face and my own, "he never like, touched me in a wrong way, but he was always moving my bow hand with his, improving my posture, that sort of thing."

"You don't have to cover for him, darling." Mrs. Brown said furiously. "If he did something—"

"He didn't though, so whatever, doesn't matter. Next question!" Amelia grinned. She was very bubbly. For the next hour or so, I questioned her, and her mom further. I filed their claim, did my required work on Mr. Croup, who was released and had a court date, and checked in with Mac.

I had more work to do, and since this case was the last on the pile, they bounced from Stella, to Flack, to Mac for questioning. I spent the rest of the night doing lab work until my shift was over.


	2. Chapter 2

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 2

DANNY POV

The next day, half awake, I walked into the Claims Office again, coffee in hand. I was slightly pissed, the only reason I was working Claims was because Mac had told me that I needed to 'cool down', which basically meant I had screwed up the last case, big time. I honestly couldn't believe they called Claims 'investigating.' After a minute of sitting at my desk, I was assigned a person.

This person was a prostitute, who, with every other sentence, was trying to offer her services. To a cop. After she was done, I stood up and stretched. Today was NOT going to be a good day.

"I'd like…to file a missing persons…report." I heard someone crying who sounded much too familiar. Turning around, I saw Mrs. Brown of all people, whimpering into a handkerchief a desk away.

"Mrs. Brown?" I asked out of curiosity and half stupidity. She slowly looked over, and she looked bad. Her eyes where huge and puffy, and extremely red.

"Mr. Danny, she's gone, she's gone…" She buried her whole face into her handkerchief. I motioned the guy sitting there out, and he swapped with me.

"Whose gone?" I asked, still curious.

"A-Amelia!" She wailed. "I got up l-late, like I always do on Friday's, and she was g-gone! She s-sent me a text over an hour a-ago…" She blew her nose in a very un-ladylike fashion.

"May I read it?" I asked, curiosity gone, and replaced with worry. Amelia (from I what I learned about her yesterday, which was a lot, her mom had filled in a lot of holes when Amelia went to go get a cup of coffee) always texted her mother almost every half and hour.

Mrs. Brown dumped her phone on the counter. Cautiously, I picked it up; it was a really nice phone. But then again, the missing violin was a Stradivarius, so I wasn't surprised. I flipped it open. The text was right up on the screen, and it stopped my heart.

_Hey mom, guess what? Mr. Creep/Croup found my violin! It was a little beat up though, but he's going to fix it, free of charge. I'm taking a taxi to his factory, I'll text soon. 3, Amelia._

I checked the time on the message, and Mrs. Brown was right, it had been almost over and hour. I seized my radio. "Dispatch, possible motivated kidnapping, do you read?"

Flack's voice picked up. "Danny, kidnapping, really? Who what and where?"

"Amelia Brown, possible motive by Mr. Croup, at his factory. She failed to report back to her mom after the usual half-and-our time." I said as Mrs. Brown gasped and buried her face in her handkerchief once more. Flack didn't respond.

"Flack, do you read?" I asked, getting impatient. I had a bad feeling about this…

"Danny, this is Mac. Get your ass down to Dispatch. You know this case, and we just got a 911 one call reporting screaming from the factory, move!" Mac barked and Mrs. Brown shuddered.

I frantically motioned a officer over. "Take her to a room to calm down; we'll contact you if we have anything new." Then I unlocked my gun and badge from the desk drawer and got the hell out of there.


	3. Chapter 3

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 3

DANNY POV

The ride to the factory was tense and short. I filled Mac and Flack in on the way there, and it was filled with speculation. Usually, we wouldn't be reacting so badly to an irresponsible teenager.

But more info on Mr. Croup came in after he had been released. Turns out he was a notorious pimp, and had been involved with many drug rings. He kept changing his name and appearance, plus his life, location and occupation.

But when Amelia had identified him, that had put an end to his days of crime. And when someone disappears under suspicious circumstances…it couldn't just be coincidence.

The patrol screeched to a halt outside one of the less used, long hangars that were part of the factory, where the screaming had been reported. Stealthily, we climbed out and snuck towards the huge garage-like door that was just barely cracked open. Mac waved the patrol back a few steps, and he and Flack slowly approached the opening as I slowly bent down to peek from a few feet back.

I saw a shadow move, then nothing. I looked up to see them both watching me. I signed that someone was in there. Suddenly, Flack lunged for the door, and with both hands, held it open as someone from the inside released it with a screech. He cussed as it started to slip.

Wasting no time, I ducked and rolled, Mac following. With a groan, the door slammed down with an ominous clang. Nothing moved. The room was dim, but I could see rows and rows of tables, covered in instrument parts.

Quickly, Mac and I filed between the rows, looking for Croup, but he wasn't in here. Then my radio went off, scaring the shit out of me.

"Danny? Flack come in." The radio crackled. It was turned to almost silent, but in the large empty room, it crackled loudly, at almost the same time Mac's did.

He quickly turned his down. "Mac and I are here, but the room seems empty. We're going to need backup, the factory is big." I said quickly, turning my radio hastily down.

"I would happily join you, but the door had some sort of sealer on the bottom, it got all over my hands, which is fine, but it's keeping the door sealed tight as a drum. We are looking for other entry." Flack reported and I cussed quietly. Perfect. No back up, in a creepy factory with a possible psycho kidnapper and his victim. Wonderful.

Mac was a few feet away, examining the only doors in the whole hangar, two innocent doors that were not labeled in any way. I studied the one he wasn't, and my eyes were glued to tiny silver charm embedded into the doorframe, along with some blood residue; he had done a hasty clean up. I went over to a table, found a pair of tweezers.

I almost ran back to the door, and carefully pried the charm out; held it up to the light. It was the tiny violin. "This is hers." I said almost silently to Mac, who was now inspecting my door.

"Take this one, I'll take that one. If you have any problems, go back and bar the door." He ordered, pulling his gun. I followed suit and silently opened my door, covering all the blind spots. I let it close. Big mistake.

The ominous click that followed was not good. Neither was the room. It was long and rectangular, and not very wide. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a room, it was a walkway. Protecting me was a huge, at least 14 ft. high sheet of thick clear plastic.

It was a walkway on one side of an assembly line. I could see Mac on the other side, tugging on his door.


	4. Chapter 4

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 4

I radioed him. "Your door is sealed, I take it?" He nodded after one more useless tug on the door. "Locked, sealed, I have no clue." He said clearly, without this radio, and I could hear him.

I looked down to the floor. The assembly line was huge, almost ten feet wide, with bits and pieces of the instruments stacked high, where the machines could assemble them. I noticed the ones on top of all the piles were super sized. However, the floor was quiet. Too quiet.

"Do you think a bullet would shatter the plastic? There isn't any other way out, and we have no idea what's at the end of the walkway." I called to Mac, and he thought about it, scanning the assembly line with a furrowed brow. He opened his mouth to answer, when there was a loud bang, and shuffled footsteps. They sounded strained, like they were carrying something.

Instantly, I raised my gun and moved to see at a better angle, turning my radio off. I didn't dare look away from the shadow that was too familiar, but there was something different about it…

Croup shuffled around the corner, Amelia over his shoulder. I could tell instantly it was her, the spiky hair was a dead giveaway. She wasn't moving. Croup moved to the start of the line. Sitting ready for assembly, was the first piece of a bass, the huge plated back.

This back was different, however. It was big, like the other first assembly pieces. Big enough to put someone inside. "Mr. Croup! Put her down and move away!" Mac shouted, training his gun on his head.

Mr. Croup ignored us, but a huge grin was spreading on his face as he plopped her down on the back, and shuffled to a pile of large bows. He cut the hair out of 4 of them, and then came back, straightened her out, and started to tie her down.

When he moved her out, the large cut under bangs became apparent. He must have bashed her head on the door. "Croup! Stop!" Mac ordered, but he just laughed, and finished what he was doing. Then he straightened and bowed to each of us mockingly.

"Gentlemen. Fear not for dear Amelia yet, and listen. The assembly takes 10 minutes to put a bass together. All the doors in the walkway are open except the exits. The finished bass' are taken to a hangar for drying. Oh yes, they are taken there because the glue releases toxic fumes as it dries. This doesn't make things look good for Amelia, does it? You can't save her, but you can watch." He roared with laughter, and stepped back, and up to the control panel.

"Stop!" I yelled, but it was too late. He punched a button with glee, and the machine's cranked slowly to life. Mr. Croup got on a segway and started to follow the line as it slowly chugged along. The sick bastard was going to _watch._

I darted down to the door at the end of the current section of the walkway. I could hear Mac on his radio, but if the factory was sealed, they would never make it. I kicked open the door and went into the next room as the line started to pick up speed.

Amelia stirred as the machines got louder. "Amelia!" I yelled at her, and she slowly looked my way, obviously confused. Then Mr. Croup caught up, and blocked her view, and she looked horrified as she realized who he was.

"Bass assembly is quite fascinating…you wanted to see it dear, now have a first hand account." He snarled. She started to fight, and gasped in shock when the bow hair cut her skin. The hair started to turn red.

"Stop the line!" Mac shouted, distracting her. I looked farther on, like he had, and paled. Bass supports would be put inside to keep it from collapsing. They would be drilled down, right where she was spread out.

She squirmed as sealant was placed, and she started coughing. "Look out!" I bellowed as the first machine came down. She shrieked and moved as far as she could to one side as one of the posts came down and was screwed in, covering her in a shower of sawdust.

Huge brushes beat it out of the way, and the second one came down. She shrieked again as it pinned her shirt, barely missing her side, but keeping her still, locked in place. More brushes beat the dust away, and the sealant was applied again. Mac and I were running down the walkway as the sides were started to be placed.

"Oh god, someone help me!" She cried, ducking as two more were placed by her head. She tilted her head up to look farther down the line, then quickly glanced at Mac and I, freaking out. I looked ahead again and saw why.

"Mr. Croup, please! Stop!" I shouted, barreling through another door. He ignored us, nodding as all four sides were placed on the bass, blocking her from view. More of the deadly sealant was applied. I quickly ran to the very end, and fired two shots into the plastic. It cracked, and made a small hole the size of my 9 mm.

I looked quickly around for something I could throw through the now weakened plastic, and found nothing, so I fired four more shots. Cracks spiderwebbed quickly through the plastic.

I kicked at it once, twice, three times, and it suddenly shattered, distracting Croup. He pulled a gun and I dropped and rolled forward, and slid down a pipe leading to the floor. I reloaded as Mac started to break his plastic. The machines roared.

"You will not ruin this. Come out!" Croup roared over the machines, drowning out Amelia's shouts. I silently moved to another pipe behind him and shot him in the knee. He howled and fell off the segway. I kicked his gun far away, and then ran for the assembly line. She was almost at the end.

"Amelia?!" I shouted, but got no answer. The bass was lifted by claw hands, and started its journey to the hangar. Wasting no time, I vaulted onto the line, and when the claws came down, I jumped and wrapped my arms around it as I saw Mac jump down.

Then I turned a corner and went into a dividing room. Luckily, I was divided towards the same room as Amelia, and I jumped off before I could be stained. I ran pell-mell after her bass and skidded to a halt in the huge hangar. Rows and rows of racks held bases as they dried. Each rack had about 20 bases on it.

Suddenly, they all looked very much the same, and I lost track of Amelia's bass. The machine was placing them randomly, she could be anywhere.


	5. Chapter 5

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 5

AMELIA POV

After a heavy thud, there was silence. The roaring of the machine's echoed in my ears, making me dizzy. I could barely turn my head, but when I glanced at my hand, I was greeted with red bow hair.

I fuzzily remembered cutting myself, but I thought it was my head, not my wrists…

"_Mr. Croup? Hello?" I called to the empty hangar, full of the hand assembled instruments, some still not completed. The door had been wide open, like he said, but he wasn't here._

"_Hello?" I called again, moving through the rows. I was worried about my violin, he said it was a little beat up, but on a Stradivarius, that was like breaking it in half. I stopped by two doors at the end. I remembered from class, when Mr. Croup had talked about instrument construction. Curious, I went to open the door, but a hand on my shoulder made me jump._

"_Amelia. I'm glad you could make it. What are you doing?" Mr. Croup asked as I turned._

"_I'm sorry Mr. Croup. I couldn't find you, and you had mentioned bass construction, and I was curious…I'm really sorry. Is my violin ok?" I asked. He laughed._

"_I don't have your violin." He said. I was instantly confused, and the look on his face scared me. I gripped the doorframe tightly as he came a little closer._

"_Then I should go," I said, and turned to leave, but my bracelet got stuck in the doorframe. "Shoot," I said, and tugged on it, avoiding looking at him as he laughed again._

"_Let me help you." He said, and I felt a strong hand grab the back of my head, and suddenly,, my head hit the doorframe, __hard__. I heard something snap off of my wrist. Then my pounding head went black._

I could feel the cut; it was stinging under my bangs. Gasping, I looked down. My shirt was stuck fast around one of the posts, and farther down, my ankles were tied down too. I kicked for a bit, but I only succeeded in kicking my Vans off. I angrily blew my bangs out of my eyes and tried to think and take deep breaths.

I stopped as I tasted something funny. I breathed deep again, and the taste was still there, like the taste of licking an envelope seal. That couldn't be good…I looked down again, and could see two f-hole shaped lights on my legs. But where the hell was I?

"_Amelia!" Someone shouted, someone very familiar… I looked toward the noise and say Officer Danny of all people, standing on a walkway, looking absolutely horrified. Suddenly, someone blocked my view, someone on almost my level. It was Mr. Croup_.

"_Bass assembly is quite fascinating…you wanted to see it dear, have a first hand account." He snarled. I immediately went to sit up and break free, when something slit my wrist, and it __hurt._

"_Stop the line!" someone shouted, and I looked quickly over. Another cop had his gun out, but was shooting horrified glances down the line. _

_I heard a machine gooping something on, and I squirmed, trying to see what it was. _

"_Look out!" Danny bellowed as a machine came rapidly down. I could see the sharp ended drill bit and I shrieked and rolled over as far as I could before it could go through my side. My teeth vibrated in their gums as a huge explosion of sawdust blinded me. _

_Something huge was suddenly beating me, and the wind made my eyes water. I opened my streaming eyes to see the second bit seconds away. I shrieked again, sure it would hit me. It went through my shirt, but was rough against my side. The dust was beat away once more, and something was gooped on again. _

"_Mr. Croup, please! Stop!" Danny shouted, barreling through another door. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when sides blocked my view, scaring me. I was getting sealed inside! The machine gooped on what I realized was glue. It smelled terrible, it made me cough._

_As the lid and neck were placed, I heard gunshots, making me flinch. I heard strings and pegs being applied, along with the bridge. I heard someone yell in pain. I heard Danny yell for me again, but when I inhaled to answer, I started hacking. The air was stale and humid; much too warm._

_Suddenly, I was lifted, and my head hit the cover of the bass. The air going in through the f-holes was amazingly fresh, and I breathed it in as much as I could. Then, I was set down, and then silence._

I heard a thud, and then people talking. A radio crackled. My brain was fuzzy, almost padded, and it was pounding in my ears. The air was warm, and I felt very sleepy, quite comfortable.

Footsteps running. Muffled voices shouting. I closed my eyes and sighed. I could stay in here for a while yet, I was fine…

"Amelia! The glue is poisonous! Limit your breathing, and try to make some noise!" I heard Danny shout, and footsteps go up and down rapidly to my left aways.

Poisonous? Really? Well, he didn't say deadly…suddenly, my brain woke up a bit. Poison. Death. They were basically the same thing! Panic almost closed my throat.

I took a breath to answer, but my head rang again, disorienting me; making me dizzy.

"Amelia!" The other cop shouted, and I heard basses breaking. I breathed again, making me want to puke.

"Amelia!" Danny shouted, and I heard doors breaking, and lots of people entering. "Spread out, check _every_ bass! The glue is deadly, so _move!!_" Danny shouted as my vision began to tunnel…


	6. Chapter 6

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 6

DANNY POV

The patrol, along with backup, finally made it in, and poured into the room. "Spread out, check _every_ bass! The glue is deadly, so _move!!_" I shouted at them, and moved to the nearest rack, and Flack joined me in splitting basses down the front with extra sharp knives, the room, believe it or not, had big stacks of them for trimming off glue before they were shipped.

Over the noise of wood being cut, I heard a strange, echoing thud. "Everyone quiet!" Mac shouted, hearing it too. Dead silence descended, and the sound, quieter this time, came from farther back in the room.

I ran over to the general area I thought it came from and skidded to a stop. "Make it again, come on, you can do it…make it again!" I called. It had to be her. Flack's phone going off scared the crap out of me, and he answered it quickly, and paled a little before ending the call.

"The glue fumes can kill in under 10 minutes. If I estimated right…she has about 4 minutes, give or take." He said quietly. I quickly looked away from him, and started searching racks.

I barely heard Flack telling Mac the side-affects of inhaling too much of the glue fumes, if she even lived, and focused on ripping basses open. I _would_ find her…

"2 minutes, keep looking!" I heard Stella of all people call out. I hadn't realized that Mac had pulled out all the stops for this one. Time was slipping away much to quickly.

"Come on, Amelia, make some noise! Say anything, do anything!" I shouted loudly, trying to cut through the noise of wood shredding, so she could hear me.

AMELIA POV

I was gasping, my lungs were on fire. Every movement hurt. I had been hitting my head on the cover in front of me, but that made my cut start to bleed again, clotting in my lashes.

The room was roaring with noise, and once and awhile, someone shouted more bad news. I listened foggily, but started when a woman yelled something about 2 minutes. 120 seconds to live?

Danny shouted something about making noise. I breathed in tried to project noise, but all I did was cough. Forming words was hard, my throat was dry, my lips numb.

Footsteps entered my row as I silently choked on the air. I was going to die.

"Come on Amelia, make noise, make noise!" Danny shouted, closer than I had thought.

"Here," I breathed uselessly. "Here!" I whispered hoarsely, wincing at the pain as I raised my voice.

"Did you hear that?" I heard a voice that was vaguely familiar ask. I gritted my teeth and hit my head against the cover, making my head ring and stars flash over my eyes.

"She's in this rack, over here! Get a medic! The voice shouted. And I heard footsteps suddenly everywhere, coming closer.

"Amelia, talk to me, talk to me, just one more time!" Danny shouted, but it was farther away this time, like he was on the other end of the hangar, even though I knew he was close.

"Danny…" I forced myself to murmur as I began to fall asleep. I heard someone yell, and cold air smacked my numb face like a slap as I heard wood screech as it was torn away. The whole world seemed to move, and I was suddenly lying flat. Hands unwound my shirt, checked for injuries, hesitated by my hands as the world began to fall away.

"I don't think she's breathing, get her untied!" Danny said frantically near me, and I felt something very close to my face. I forced my aching and fiery lungs to expand, no matter how much it hurt. Something cold slid under the rough bow hair and it was suddenly gone.

"She's breathing, medic!" Danny yelled by my ear, and someone picked me up and set me down on something soft. Something went over my mouth, but when I breathed, it was like ice putting out the fire in my lungs. It was delicious, cool, and eased the tension in my lungs.

"Lacerations to both wrists and forehead, bruising on the wrists, ankles and the back of the head. Possible concussion and poisoning by inhalation." Someone was reading formally, and I felt a slight prick on my arm, then I felt the pain leaving my body.

Somehow, over the screaming sirens, the voices of the doctors, and the pounding in my head, I heard Danny speak, quietly at first, but the louder, like he believed I was awake. Like he believed I was going to live.

"I'm so sorry." He sounded tortured. I felt a warm and calloused hand take my own, which was burning in comparison to his skin. Suddenly, choking fear that had been pressing on my head vanished.

Danny was great, funny, definitely laid back for a cop, and I wanted to squeeze back, but my whole body seemed to be in lockdown. He squeezed my hand reassuringly, almost hopefully the whole way to the hospital. As soon as we entered, I knew where we were. The smell alone told me that.

Then in a sudden rush, everything tingled, slipped away for good. I fell into a deep, black abyss, which was so warm and comfortable; I felt I would never get away…


	7. Chapter 7

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 7

DANNY POV

When she was situated in a room, Mac came over with me and looked through the window. She had been on a ventilator for awhile, but they said she would pull through. Croup was in prison, she would be safe.

"Can you handle this case, finish it up?" He asked abruptly as a nurse went in, changed something in her IV, and then left.

"Yes." I said, watching her breathe. He clapped me on the back and left. After a minute, I bent down and picked up my kit, and walked in to the too still room.

Mrs. Brown came in as I gently swiped blood from her face and sealed it, for DNA. She offered her thank you's in a wavering voice, and sat down heavily as I carefully took off Amelia's bracelet, as evidence. As my fingers fumbled with the clasp, I swear she stirred.

"It's always hard to get off, every time she has a concert she has to take it off…" Mrs. Brown laughed as shakily as her voice had been, and got up and paced as I continued to try to open the clasp, occasionally glancing out the window.

Finally, after having to use both hands to hold her hand up, and get the bracelet off, I bagged it, and dug out my camera. When I straightened, I froze. Amelia's eyes were open, looking at me curiously.

"Mrs.--Mrs. Brown." I choked, and she whirled around and gave some sort of gasp/sob and ran around to stand on the other side of the bed, and seized her hand.

"Amelia, Amelia honey, can you hear me?" she asked, almost in hysterics, and rubbed her hand over and over in a little circles.

"Yes?" she said hoarsely, her throat barely croaking out the words. Mrs. Brown squealed and seized her gently in a hug, then stroked her short bangs anxiously out of the way, and her fingers shook on the large bandage spanning her forehead.

"Oh honey, are you alright?" She fretted. I had filled her in while they stitched Amelia's wrists and forehead shut, and she knew everything.

"Why wouldn't I be? And aren't we late for the Carnegie Audition? I shouldn't be in bed, right?" Mrs. Brown froze, and quickly glanced at me, then back to her daughter.

"No honey, stay there. We already went to the audition, you got it, remember? Do you remember the accident?" I slowly moved backward to the chair in the corner and sank down on it. She didn't remember. One of the side affects of inhaling the fumes was memory loss…

"Accident? What accident?! What—ouch." She winced as she started to raise her voice. Mrs. Brown pressed the nurse call, and turned back to her daughter.

"You were in an accident honey. Mr. Croup—he tried to hurt you honey. But you're safe now, I promise. You're in the hospital." She said quickly, seeing the alarm in Amelia's eyes.

After Amelia had a drink of water and some more medication, Mrs. Brown told the whole story to her. At the end, she was crying silently. Amelia didn't remember anything, she told her mom that as she wiped away her tears. She was mad that she couldn't remember, she couldn't understand the accident.

I got up and left as Amelia and her Mom talked for a while, until she fell asleep. She didn't' remember anything, not one detail. I called Hawkes as Mrs. Brown silently left her daughters room in search of coffee.

"Can the team come down here after your shifts tomorrow? It might help her remember something, she's seen all of you, well, at least, I think she did at the Claims Department, you all got a chance to question her at least once." I asked after I explained the situation. Hawkes said he would get as many people as possible.

The next day was hard. I was a silent observer as Mrs. Brown answered all of her daughters questions, and she asked some of her own, trying to see just how much she remembered. The one good news she had to tell her daughter: her violin had been found in Mr. Croup's house, in the basement, next to a set of directions on how to stuff one with drugs. It was processed and returned to the family.

I silently took notes, filling in the holes of the case. I really didn't want to leave the hospital. I felt that if I let Amelia out of my sight again, something would happen to her.

The knock on the door surprised me, and everyone filled in sheepishly, as Mrs. Brown introduced all of them (again) to her daughter with her usual flourish. She explained why they were here, and Amelia frowned.

"Do I know any of you? Well, let me rephrase, am I supposed to know any of you?" she asked, quickly looking at all of us. She glanced at me last, recognizing me from sitting in all this time, but she still didn't know my name.

"We've met before." Mac said calmly, coming over to sit beside her. Mrs. Brown left, and we all sort of grouped around her bed in an unorganized fashion.

"Well, Mom said you like, questioned me about that Creep, but I don't remember you guys, sorry." She said, still frowning.

"We're here to help you remember." Stella said, and sat on her other side. "Besides what your Mom told you, do you remember anything on your own?"

"Well, this morning, I remembered that I had won the audition to play at Carnegie, but then my violin disappeared. I remember going to the Station Claims office, but then it gets fuzzy." She said slowly, like she had just remembered it instead of remembering it 6 hours ago.

Slowly, we filled in more of the finer details, even tried to get her to remember more, but when she was getting frustrated, the team left, with promises to come back. I could tell they all really liked her; her spunkiness had not left her like her memory had.

I started to finish the rest of my work. I apologized each time I had to take a picture, the flash was strong, and she blinked each time. I told her not to look at her injuries when I took a picture, but she looked at her wrists with an unreadable expression. I was thankful she couldn't see the cut on her head and the bruises on the back of her neck.

"So, you're a CSI?" She asked me as started to take her fingerprints, just for the record. She giggled; I guess her fingertips were ticklish. I grinned but watched what I was doing as she kept laughing. The sound was nice compared to the frown she had been wearing for most of the time.

"Yes I am." I said, and pressed her fingers to the paper. Her hand jerked in mine, I guess she was really ticklish. I idly wondered how she could possibly play with fingers so ticklish.

"Oh _shoot_, I forgot your name…what was it?" She groaned. She looked very angry at herself.

"Just call me Danny." I said, a reflex, that's what I told everyone. She stiffened, and stared at me, with a half surprised expression on her face.

"O—oh." She breathed, looking dreamy, still staring at me. I slowly put down her now tense hand down and closed the ink. She slowly, almost unconsciously relaxed, and I leaned forward, unsure. Could she be reacting to her medication?

"Are you alright?" I asked. She suddenly seized my hand, and wrapped it around her own. Her face was absolutely stunned, yet twisted at the same time.

"Squeeze my hand." She ordered. Bewildered, I complied, and she gasped. "OH god," she gasped, and squeezed my hand back, even those hers was shaking.

"Amelia, say something." I said, seriously considering calling the nurse, but she choked out a gasp again and yanked me over till I was almost over her. She was holding on to my hand like a life raft, and she started to tear up.

"You've said that to me before, haven't you? I don't remember why yet, but I remember you introducing yourself at the claims office, and then you were telling me to 'make noise.' I remember!" She said triumphantly, her voice still hoarse, and she still looked sad. She was remembering…!

"And then, you squeezed my hand once, I totally remember, it feels the same, it really does. Do it again, please." She begged, and I instantly did it again. She had been holding her breath, but it came out in a _whoosh._

Her face was so twisted, I wasn't sure what to do as a minute ticked by. "I-I remember. Waking up on the line, the posts, the sawdust, someone fired their gun, more than once too, and then you were calling for me." Her words ran together she was talking so fast. She started to cry fully, and I hit the nurse button as I leaned over and gave her a hug, which she weakly returned. Her whole body had started to shake.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you._" She said in a rush, her tears getting my shoulder damp. "It was you, it was all you. I owe you so much, _thank you…_" The nurse and her mom came in, and I gingerly explained. I went to pull away, but she grasped my shirt tighter. Amelia wasn't letting go, she was still crying on me.

"Amelia, you're safe now, you can let go of him. He's not going anywhere, I promise." Mrs. Brown said, but she only tightened her grip, wrapping her arms around me as tight as she could.

"Amelia…he can't hurt you anymore. It's over." I said to her, but she just shook her head, burying it deeper into my shoulder.

"I remember in the ambulance. You shouldn't be sorry." She murmured into my shoulder. I hoped I didn't flush, her mom was still watching her daughter, looking astounded.

Slowly, I pulled away, breaking her weak hold, but I stayed close, and let her seize my hands and hold them as tight as she could…


	8. Chapter 8

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 8

AMELIA POV

"Just call me Danny," He said briskly, but as soon as he said it, a memory flashed to me without my permission.

"_Alright, just call me Danny." Danny said, grinning. I grinned back, but Mom frowned._

"_Melinda Brown, and my daughter, Amelia. I suppose you want to know about our claim?" Mom said briskly._

I blinked, and the rest of the memory suddenly fell into place. "O—oh." I stuttered, the memory suddenly making total sense had made me dizzy.

Danny slowly put my hand down and closed the ink, looking worried. That made me sort-of relax. I honestly knew who he was now, his whole team. He leaned forward, looking more worried than before.

"Are you alright?" He asked. A memory quietly stirred in my memory, something about his hand, so I seized it.

"Squeeze my hand." I said quickly. Looking confused, and still worried, he did, making me gasp.

"_I'm so sorry." He sounded tortured. I felt a warm and calloused hand take my own, which was burning it seemed compared to his skin. Suddenly, choking fear that had been pressing on my head vanished._

"OH god," I gasped, and I squeezed his hand in my shaking one. I couldn't remember why, but I had been in an ambulance, and he had apologized. But what for?

"Amelia, say something." He said, looking almost scared now. I ignored him and yanked him over closer. He was bringing back all my memories of this 'accident', and he was always doing something good for me, in all the memories. I felt my eyes prick as another memory pushed at my brain like it was hiding behind a veil.

"You've said that to me before, haven't you? I don't remember why yet, but I remember you introducing yourself at the claims office, and then you were telling me to 'make noise.'" I said, and I noticed his face change out of the corner of my eye. I grasped for the memory with my mind, but it started to fall away. "I remember!" I said triumphantly, my voice still hoarse, only to convince myself. I knew it was there…

"And then, you squeezed my hand once, I totally remember, it feels the same, it really does. Do it again, please." I almost begged, holding my breath. Maybe, just maybe, this would work. Danny squeezed my hand.

I remembered Mr. Croup, the machinery, someone firing a gun. Being sealed inside. The strange taste in my mouth, the feeling of falling asleep. But more distinctly…

_Slowly, but deliberately, I let my head fall twice forward, making a knocking sound. The noises outside stopped. My head spinning, I tried again half-heartedly. I heard footsteps running closer, and then:_ _"Make it again, come on, you can do it…make it again!" Danny called from somewhere to my left._

_A phone went off. Talking, then the noises continued. "Come on, Amelia, make some noise! Say anything, do anything!" I heard Danny shout again._

_I breathed in tried to project noise, but all I did was cough. Forming words was hard, my throat was dry, my lips numb._

_Footsteps entered my row as I silently choked on the air. I was going to die. _

"_Come on Amelia, make noise, make noise!" Danny shouted, closer than I had thought._

"_Here," I breathed, but he didn't here it. "Here!" I whispered hoarsely, wincing at the pain as I raised my voice._

"_Did you hear that?" I heard a voice that was vaguely familiar ask. I gritted my teeth and hit my head against the cover, making my head ring and stars flash over my eyes._

"_She's in this rack, over here! Get a medic! The voice shouted. And I heard footsteps suddenly everywhere._

"_Amelia, talk to me, talk to me, just one more time!" Danny shouted, but it was farther away this time, like he was on the other end of the hangar._

"_Danny…" I forced myself to murmur as I began to fall asleep. I heard someone almost roar. The world moved suddenly. _

"_I don't think she's breathing, get her untied!" Danny said frantically near me. More movement spun by, even though my eyes were closed. I doubt I could open them, they were too heavy._

"_She's breathing, medic!" Danny yelled by my ear. I was moved. The burning went down in my lungs._

"_Lacerations to both wrists and forehead, bruising on the wrists, ankles and the back of the head. Possible concussion and poisoning by inhalation." Someone was reading formally, and I felt a slight prick on my arm, then I felt the pain leaving my body._

_Somehow, over the screaming sirens, the voices of the doctors, and the pounding in my head, I heard Danny speak, quietly at first, but the louder, like he believed I was awake. Like he believed I was going to live._

"I-I remember. Waking up on the line, the posts, the sawdust, someone fired their gun, more than once too, and then you were calling for me." I mumbled, starting to cry. Danny closed the short distance and gave me a hug. I barely found the energy to wrap my arms over his broad shoulders. He had saved me.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you._" I said quickly, tears streaming silently down my face. "It was you, it was all you. I owe you so much, _thank you…_" I found I couldn't talk anymore. I felt ashamed for forgetting him, for forgetting everything he and his team had done. I heard people come in, but I ignored it, and just held on.

"Amelia, you're safe now, you can let go of him. He's not going anywhere, I promise." Mom said, but I just held on all the tighter. She didn't understand.

"Amelia…he can't hurt you anymore. It's over." Danny said by my ear, but I frantically shook my head. How could I let him know this wasn't about being afraid?

"I remember in the ambulance. You shouldn't be sorry." I whispered finally. He tensed for about a second, then slowly pulled away and sat down next to the bed. Slowly, I explained to Mom without looking at her.

She went berserk, and thanked him about a million times. After we both calmed down, he still stayed. I helped him wrap up my case, now that I remembered all the fine details. He left almost regretfully, but that night, I slept soundly, knowing that I would never again forget what he had done for me.


	9. Chapter 9

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 9

AMELIA POV

When Danny was assigned other cases, he visited less often, but when he did, it always cheered me up, especially when he managed to get the whole team to come. They were my breath of fresh air; I had been bored with the hospital.

Eventually, I was discharged. Mom tried to make me rest when I got home, but I practiced fiercely for the Carnegie Performance. I had made a decision; I was going to play it for the team at CSI. They deserved much more, but that was all I could give.

It was hard. My wrists were still very sore, and bowing and vibrato required lots of wrist movement. Rosin felt like an allergy attack when I breathed it in, my lungs were still 'injured', according to the doctor who had discharged me.

My song was for it's complexity, Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, BWV 1041: I. (Allegro Moderato) by Bach. I would have a accompaniment for the concert, but I was going to play it solo for the team.

My mom called them, hoping they would deny me, but Mac agreed to it, which only made me practice all the harder. I had basically a week to learn a piece I was supposed to have a month to learn.

My hatred for Croup helped a lot. Every time I pictured him, it set off a whole more round of practicing. I was fierce, my violin had been repaired, and I had missed practicing alone, away from Mr. Croup to begin with.

The night before, I practiced until my mom shouted at me to let her sleep, and told me to get some sleep. She threatened calling the hospital, so I warily went to sleep.

The next day, I was incredibly nervous. I had all day, they didn't get off of shift until 5, but I was sure I wasn't ready. My fingers made stupid mistakes, and my wrists were acting up.

I hated the two almost identical scars the cuts had left permanently on my skin. I had nothing to cover them up, I really couldn't wear anything. The only major item I wore was my bracelet, but the CSI team still had it as evidence, even though Croup's trial was over.

That had been rough. I was required to attend, and Croup had blown me a kiss as soon as he saw me. Mom would have clawed his eyes out if she could have. I sat frozen for the rest of the trial. Danny's testimony was the worst other than my own. I couldn't even look at him.

My only comforting thought about him was that he had been convicted to a life's sentence. After the trial, I almost ran to my mother's car. When I got home, I played my violin for an hour before I could talk to my Mom.

And of course, I still had nightmares. Every night, my mom came in because I was making some sort of noise. I found I was extremely claustrophobic, too.

But I had started learning bass as soon as I could. I wanted to prove him wrong. I had learned viola clef in lessons, but bass clef was a new experience. I always had to play bass away from my mother though, she highly disapproved. 'Unhealthy' she called it. But by getting to know the instrument itself erased some of the fear.

The whole ride there, I was nervous. I was really fidgety; my fingers were constantly drumming on some surface—the door handle, my leg, the violin case.

We attracted some looks as we came in, all the cops leaving looked at us strangely: A older woman with a teenager carrying a violin case that looked suspiciously like a gun. I had to have it checked twice, and my mom yelled at the man for actually taking the violin out to see if anything was hidden inside.

By that time, Mac had received word, and he saved the poor security guard from my mother. I really hadn't minded, he had worn gloves and had been really very careful, but there was no arguing with my mom.

"How are you, Amelia?" Mac asked, after a slight awkward silence of walking down a empty hallway.

I shrugged. "I'm fine." I said. I had gotten so good at lying to my mother, Mac was a piece of cake. I hated it when people asked that question anyway. What did he expect me to say? I switched the case to my other hand, and Mac noticed.

"Do you want me to carry that?" He asked, but I shook my head. I wasn't that weak; If I could lift a full size bass, I could carry a violin case.

"Well, everyone gets off in about ten minutes. You can wait in my office I guess." Mac looked kind of uncomfortable.

'Actually, do you have somewhere I could warm up? My fingers got kind of cold on the way over." I said, saving him from an awkward situation. He seemed relieved.

"Your mother mentioned something about that…you can use the test room, it's sound proof and empty." He led me through the barely full lab and to a room filled with locked cabinets, I assumed the guns were stored in there.

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked nervously. I had become something of a worry wart lately. I wonder why?

"Perfectly safe." He said, and gave me a small smile before leaving. I set my case on the table, thankful that the walls in this room were opaque, not like the rest of the lab, where the walls were glass.

I carefully took out my violin and tuned quickly, already nervous. I had the song memorized, but I felt stupid for not bringing music.

_Calm down._ I told myself, and played a few scales to the key of the music, and warmed up with songs I had from high school still somehow stuck in my brain. It was relaxing, playing music that was so easy.

While I paused to rosin my bow, the door opened, and Mac peeked his head around the door. "Ready?" He asked, and I nodded, closed the case and picked up my violin and bow and followed him out.


	10. Chapter 10

~The Sweet Sound of Music, 10

The lab was mostly empty, and situated around the stairs to Mac's office was the team and my mom, who was looking a little snippy.

"Honey, there you are, goodness, I was starting to get worried…" She laughed nervously. "I hope you're ready?" She asked. I just nodded, my fingers drumming already on the neck of the violin.

"Wait…before you play…we got you something." Danny said, standing up. He came over with a little box. I raised my eyebrows (which didn't hurt anymore, it used to, thanks to Croup) and received the box after setting my violin down on a table.

I pulled off the wildly purple bow with a smile. The box in contrast, was white. I slit the tape with my longest fingernail (as any string instrument player, you are supposed to keep your nails trimmed down) and took off the lid.

My bracelet was inside, shiny and clean, like it hadn't been through what it had been. I slowly lifted it out. The violin charm had been replaced, and one more had been added, a tiny magnify glass. My eyes pricked suddenly as I set the box quickly down and slowly wrapped the bracelet around my wrist, and went to do the clasp.

"Here." Danny said quietly, and helped me do the still stubborn clasp. After a minute, he got it. I shook it out and felt a smile creep across my face.

"It's beautiful, the new charm. Thank you." I said softly and hastily wiped at my face. I hadn't expected to get it back, not to mention fixed with a new charm.

Danny gave me a hug, and then we had a giant hug fest. I got hugs from everyone, and after another quick swipe at my eyes, I shooed them all back to their seats.

"Who picked out the charm?" I asked. Everybody glanced at Danny, who smiled sheepishly. "Nice." I said and my face broke into a grin.

"Yeah, way to go Danny." Said Flack sarcastically.

"Way to be a superstar!" Stella said, and slapped him a quick highfive, taking him off guard.

"Oh shut up all of you. I love it." I said, but nobody heard me.

"But really? A magnify glass? How about something a bit more girly, like a compact or something?" Hawkes said.

"Hey now," Danny said defensively.

"Really Hawkes? Do I look girly to you? Now shut up, all of you!" I said jokingly, but they actually listened this time. My mom's glare helped. Mac just rolled his eyes.

Now that I had their attention, I was nervous again. Great.

I quickly tested my strings and took a deep breath…

DANNY POV

She started slowly, and I could tell she was nervous. But after awhile, she acted like we weren't even here. It was beautiful beyond I could have thought from one so young. Her mom looked more proud than I had ever seen her.

The music sounded hard, but she made it look so easy. It was the best when she started to get into it, I could tell she was passionate about playing. A sort of silence descended on the lab, except for the sweet sound of music in the air.

My first story for CSI: NY! I thought it was pretty bad, really very nerdy. I realized halfway through that I used terms I'm sure you probably haven't heard of before. I'll list them here for you, if you honestly care to read them.

Violin- The highest string instrument in an Orchestra. Violin, Viola Cello and Bass all have four strings, and they are listed highest to lowest in pitch, and in my opinion, difficulty. They are also listed according to size. The only reason Amelia was put in a bass is because it is the biggest of the four.

Stradivarius- you've probably heard of this one. It's only the best violin you can buy. All of them were made in about the 1600's, and they are extremely fragile, but they make the best sound.

Instrument Parts- The best instruments are assembled by hand, but it can be done by machine. They have many parts, but I'll only define the ones I mentioned.

Front and Back- These are the largest parts of an instrument, they give a instrument it's shape, and therefore, impacts what it will sound like.

Supports- Wooden dowels placed strategically inside an instrument keep the plates from collapsing.

Bow Hair- Attached to the bow itself is the hair, which you put on the strings to produce a sound.

Glue- Obviously, it holds the instrument together so that as the wood expands and shrinks with different temperatures it doesn't fall apart.

Rack- Used to hold either violins or violas in cases, or cello's or basses without a case.

Case- Protects the instrument in question. They can be very expensive, especially ones for cello and bass.

F-Hole- The F shaped holes cut into a instrument to allow the sound to pass through.

Strings- What you play to produce different sounds.

Pegs- The four pegs tune each of the four strings to the correct pitch.

Bridge- What the strings are placed over.

Bowing- There are about a hundred different types of bowing, and they are very technical. For example, _staccato_ is meant to be short and quick, and _legato_ is long and fluid. Then there are up bows, down bows, slurs, ties…it's very confusing!

Vibrato- the musician moves their wrist quickly up and down to make the sound waver.

Rosin- placed on the bow hair as a dry lubricant, it also adds a bit of volume. It makes the sound smoother and easier to make.

Fingering- There are certain finger patterns to make certain sounds, or notes.

Clef- Different instruments are played in different clefs. Clefs tell the composer where to place the notes on the _staff._ The staff is the lines you see in music. Viola Clef refers to Tenor Clef.

Full Size- all instruments come in different sizes depending on the player. ¼, ½ and full size are the basic sizes, but they can be custom made for younger kids, or players with _really _ long arms.

Warm up- before a performance, a musician will warm up to be more comfortable playing.

Key- Certain notes can be sharp, flat or natural. The key tells you which notes have _occidentals_, or one of the markings listed.

Scale- a series of notes in any key.


End file.
